Not so Tranquil

Day off ski to look for soft snow. 

• 6-16" of recent and drifted snow sitting on the 2/1 crust, varying by elevation and exposure to wind. Sheltered areas held the deepest snow. No 2/5 crust.
• In hand pits, planar shears at the storm snow/ crust interface but took hard to very hard pulls. Slab is 4F hard at base, F or F+ near surface. Some small, angular grains visible to the eye but very thin layer. 
• Winds above 7000 feet were moderate to strong from the west-northwest, with moderate drifting snow. Small, soft drifts and a few short (~1m) shooting cracks.
• We triggered several small, harmless avalanches at mid and low elevations - two small sluffs and a small slab. The slab broke on the 2/5 crust on a short, steep slope (5100 feet) where wind had stiffened the surface of the slab. It didn't propagate widely (less than half the width of the slope) and the debris only ran a few feet. We saw one other short shooting crack in this area, where downvalley winds had affected the surface of the snow.
• We stuck to planar slopes with slope angles less than about 35 degrees and minimal overhead hazard. The few exceptions were short, concave glades in the trees.